


burns, burns, burns

by Dresupi



Series: Would You Like to See Something Strange?  (Halloween Prompts) [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Curses, Darcy Lewis is the fandom bicycle and I love it, Dragons, F/M, Graphic Depictions of Illness, Graphic Description, Healers, Meet-Cute, Mystery Curse, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Rating May Change, Romantic Soulmates, SHIP DARCY LEWIS WITH ALL THE THINGS, Soulmates, Transformation, Witch Curses, Witches, Work In Progress
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-03
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2019-01-08 15:47:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12257394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dresupi/pseuds/Dresupi
Summary: Pietro wakes up one morning to find that the two lumps on his forehead have turned into two black horns, not unlike a billy goat.Also, he has some killer heartburn.  So killer that it burns a hole in his bathroom wall.He decides to visit a healer.  Luckily, he knows just the one.Regardless of what this looks like, it's first and foremost a love story.~On hiatus, not abandoned~Day 3 of my Halloween Prompts:  Horns





	burns, burns, burns

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Merideath](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merideath/gifts).



> Day 3 of my Halloween Prompts. 
> 
> October 3: Horns
> 
> Some trigger warnings before we get started. I tried to keep the graphic descriptions to a minimum. But I do describe a partial physical transformation from man to beast in this fic, so if that kind of thing squicks you, you might not want to read this. (The most graphic thing is the itchy rash where scales appear beneath. There's a part where Pietro peels off a piece of dead skin to reveal scales beneath.) I wanted to be upfront about it, because I know some people can be triggered and/or squicked by this.

He awoke at his normal time that particular morning.  But Pietro Maximoff was NOT refreshed upon rousing.  

Quite the opposite.  

He felt gross.  Sweaty.  Like his room had turned into a sauna during the night. Feverish. 

His chest was burning, with an acidic taste in his mouth that led him to believe his recent bout of acid reflux was back with a vengeance.  His head ached and his legs were itching like crazy.  

_ Shower… _ was his first thought.  

He got up, blinking and stumbling slightly as he made his way to the bathroom.  He was a lot groggier than he should be after a full-night’s sleep.

He turned on the water, a bit cooler than usual to ease his discomfort 

The water was an instant relief, even though his throat and chest still burned.  He belched, instantly regretting the decision as acidic bile burned the back of his throat even more.  

He reached blindly out of the shower, searching for the bottle of antacids he’d been eating like candy for the past few days.  As he did, another belch welled up in his belly and so he released it, thinking it might quell the pressure in his abdomen.  

It was loud, that was for certain.  But when someone said they had heartburn, they usually didn’t mean literal FIRE.  

Which was exactly what came out of his mouth.  A ball of fire. The wall was charred, a hole big enough to view the support beams of the structure behind it.    

Blinking in disbelief, he turned off the water, reaching for a towel to wrap around his waist.  

He stepped out, taking a look in the mirror for the first time since he’d woken up.  

Frowning, his hand went to his forehead.  What he was seeing in his reflection couldn’t  _ possibly  _ be there.  

Two black nubs jutted out on either side of his forehead.  They were not hidden by his hair, they were blatantly obvious. 

He’d been trying like crazy to get rid of what he’d thought was cystic acne in both of those spots that week.  Apparently, no, it wasn’t the much maligned return of the bane of his pubescence.  He was just growing horns.  

He’d also belched up fire and destroyed his chance of getting his security deposit back on this apartment.  

So why wouldn’t he be growing horns too?  Why the hell not?

Sighing, he leaned against the vanity.  The acrid smell of burnt drywall filled the room.  The smoldering remains of the wall was clearly visible in his periphery. 

He needed help.    

Jane Foster’s name immediately entered his thoughts.  The world-renowned healer was a friend of his sister’s.  Perhaps she’d have some insight.  Some light to shed on this problem.  

He walked out of the bathroom, finding his phone to call up his sister.  Wanda would be able to get him into her office that day. 

* * *

 

Darcy was bored.  Which was saying something in her line of work.  

Usually, there was a patient or two that Jane would lob off onto her apprentice, giving her something to fill the hours of the day when Jane was seeing patients.  

But Jane had been booked solid and nearly every single one of them had checked ‘no’ on the box that asked if it was alright for an apprentice to be present in a learning capacity during their appointments.  

Darcy guessed she didn’t really blame them for not wanting another person in the room while they told Jane all their embarrassing problems, but how was she supposed to log her hours if no one wanted her there?  

She was only about twenty hours away from being able to practice completely on her own.  In her own office directly adjacent to Jane’s.  

But like Darcy said before, she wasn’t exactly logging hours.  The only hours she was logging were the ones she spent bothering Ian at the front desk.  

“Can’t you like… talk me up or something, dude?”  

“It’s not my responsibility to ‘talk you up’ to the clientele, Darcy…” he said, in a relatively scolding tone that she didn’t particularly care for.  

“It kind of is, though?  The sooner I log my hours, the sooner I get my own practice and leave you alone.”  

“As heavenly as that sounds, I can’t pimp you out to the clients who come in for Dr. Foster.  You have to be able to woo them on merit and if they won’t be wooed, they won’t be wooed.”  

She groaned as the front door chimed.  

They both looked up to see an awkward looking man approach the front desk. He looked like he’d literally rather be anywhere else.  And he was chugging Milk of Magnesia like it was going out of style.  And he had his beanie pulled down way too far on his head.  

“I am Pietro Maximoff…” he said slowly, looking between the two of them.  “My… uh… my sister called about me?”  

“Oh RIGHT, Mr. Maximoff…”  Ian said, reaching for his tablet.  “The problem is that Dr. Foster is all booked up for the day.  You can have a seat and wait for a cancellation, or--” 

“Or you can see me,” Darcy said brightly, holding out her hand.  “I’m Darcy Lewis.  Dr. Foster’s apprentice.”  

“Her apprentice?”  Pietro’s eyebrows were probably raised, but she couldn’t really tell with the beanie. 

“Yeah.  I’m really close to becoming a bonafide healer on my own, though. I know a LOT of stuff, I promise.  I have nearly a thousand hours logged.”  

He hesitated for a moment before nodding.  “I am desperate.  If you can help me, please try…”  

Ian tapped around on this tablet to bring up Pietro’s file so he could send it to Darcy.  She received it a few seconds later as she was leading Pietro down the hall to an exam room.  

Judging by the look of him, he’d gotten on the wrong side of a fire imp and was suffering from some major stomach issues.  She led him into the ice room, hoping that the cooler temperature would make him more comfortable.  

Plus, there was the exam surface that was pretty much a huge ice block.  That was pretty cool too.  Pun totally intended.  

She grabbed the parka from the wall outside the room and followed him inside.  

He certainly was breathing a little easier when they entered the chilly room.  He was still taking swigs off that milk of magnesia though.  

“You know milk of magnesia is a laxative, right?” she asked.  

He nodded. “I know.  I have not… haven’t had a problem with  _ that _ yet.  But, I ran out of Rolaids.”  

“Right.  So let’s see what we can do for you today, Mr. Maximoff.”  

He reached up at that moment and tugged off the beanie.  

Her eyes widened as she took in the two black horns protruding from his forehead.  

“Fascinating…” She got up to walk closer to him.  “Can I touch them or do they hurt?”  

“You can touch them,” he muttered.  

She ran her fingertips over each one.  About an inch and a half long, rounded.  Not unlike a button buck or a baby billy goat.  

“Are you turning centaur or faun, Pietro?”  

He shrugged.  “No idea.  I did not know those were  things you could turn.”  

She shook her head.  “Me either. At least, it’s not something Dr. Foster or I have ever encountered…any other symptoms besides the horns and the heartburn?”  

“I belched up a fireball this morning.”  

Her eyebrows raised.  “ _ What _ ?”  

“A fireball. It destroyed a wall in my bathroom.”  

“ _ Okay _ .  So, fire burps, heartburn, horns… is that it?”  

“I have a rash…”  He brought one leg up onto the ice block with him.  “On my legs mostly…”  Yanking up the pant leg of his track pants, he revealed an itchy, peeling sort of rash.  Not unlike sunburn, but not like it either. 

She’d seen something similar in merfolk, but it never accompanied the other symptoms.  If she didn’t know any better, she’d say this was some kind of curse.  

“You didn’t piss off a fire imp, did you?”  She didn’t think that was it, but she figured she should ask.  

He shook his head.  “Nah, I have never gotten on the wrong side of an imp before.”  

“Well… I can give you a salve for that rash.  And a tonic for the heartburn.  Not sure what to do about the fire breath or the horns… I’m gonna have to do some more research.”  

“Would Dr. Foster know more?”  

Darcy narrowed her eyes.  “Look, Char-King.  I’m not some greenhorn here.  I’m the one and only apprentice to Dr. Jane Foster, famed healer of Manhattan.  If she’d seen anything like this before, I’d have read it in her journals or she would have told me about it directly.  I will be consulting with her on this case, though.  And you are certainly welcome to ignore my council and wait out there in the waiting room all day for her to have an opening.”  

He raised his hands in front of him, a slight smile on his lips.  First one she’d seen since he came in.  “Just checking.  Darcy.”  

She rolled her eyes and walked to the door.  “I’ll go whip up that salve and the tonic for you.  Just…  _ chill _ for a minute.”  She winked and walked out of the room. 

* * *

 

Pietro sat down on his sofa, his fingertips tapping on his knees while he willed his phone to ring.  

Darcy had given him her phone number to call in case there was any change in his condition. And she took his in order to call him once she and Dr. Foster figured out what was wrong with him. 

The horns had grown.  Nearly double what they were the week before when he’d gone to visit her.  

The tonic had proven very useful in keeping his acid reflux at bay.  And the salve too, was helping with the rash on his skin.  

Of course, now that he was thinking about it… 

He reached down to scratch absently at his skin. Horrified, he pulled his hand back, and with it, came a strip of dead skin.  Beneath it?  A series of silvery-blue scales.  Fish scales. Or something like them.  

He grabbed for his phone, calling her number and listening to it ring.  

“Darcy Lewis, apprentice to Jane Foster…”  

“Darcy!” he exclaimed.  “My skin!  My skin, it is coming OFF…”  

“Scales underneath?” she asked, sounding  _ much _ less upset than he was.  

“Yes?”  

He heard her sigh.  “I was afraid of that…”  

“Afraid of what?”  

“Dude.  You’re cursed.  You’re gonna need to come in.”  

“I’m what?”  

“Cursed.  Come up to the office.  Jane and I have cleared our schedules.  We’re gonna figure this thing out.  Promise.”  

He tried to quell his rapidly beating heart, but it wasn’t working. He thought about calling Wanda, but she was at work.  He supposed he’d still be cursed at five p.m when she got off.   

* * *

 

He frowned.  “My parents were penniless immigrants. Why would someone place a curse on me?”  

Sure, they were his adoptive parents, but to him, they were his parents.  He’d never known anyone else.

“The people you knew as your parents adopted you and smuggled you out of Sokovia,” Jane reminded him patiently.  “We’ve found out who your birth father was…”  

He crossed his arms over his chest, shrugging defensively.  “And?”  

“Your birth father was a metallo-kinetic. And your birth-mother was a powerful witch. They gave you and your sister away to peasants to keep you safe, but you must have been found. And you, being the oldest  _ and _ the son… were cursed.” 

“What kind of a curse is it?” he asked, glancing down at the scales on his leg.  Darcy was currently rubbing more of the salve onto him.  Her hands felt cool and calming, even though he was literally falling apart.   

“A strong one, I’m afraid,” Jane said solemnly.  “Draconius.”  

“I’m turning into a dragon?” he asked, frowning.

“Looks like it, Wonder Boy…” Darcy said with a humorless smirk.  “But I’m gonna do everything in my power to stop it from happening.”  

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, reached down to grip the edges of the table he was sitting on.  “And how are you going to do that?”  

Darcy shook her head.  “That, I don’t know.  But I will figure it out.  You’re not going to be a fire-breathing bane on society, I promise. We’ve got enough of those in political office…”  

* * *

 

“Why didn’t you call me immediately?”  Wanda asked.  “I had  _ no _ idea it was this bad, Pietro!”  

“I told you I needed a healer, Wanda.  What did you think it was for?”  

“You did not tell me you were growing horns!  Shedding your skin!  BREATHING FIRE, PIETRO?”  

He shrugged.  “I… I am sorry?”

Wanda was muttering something under her breath and gathering ingredients from her spice rack.  And also from the drawer she kept locked beside the silverware.  

And also  _ also _ from the back of her freezer.  

Pietro didn’t know what kinds of things his witchy sister kept in her freezer and he didn’t  _ want _ to.  “Should I ask what you’re doing?  Or will that ruin your concentration?”  

“I am making a love potion.”  

Furrowing his brow kind of hurt, his skin was super tender, regardless of the salves and how much Darcy rubbed it on for him, but he furrowed it anyway.  “A love potion… because… all you need is love; love is all you need?”  

Wanda shot him a look.  “In this case, it is true.  Everyone knows that to counter a curse forged in hate, you rely on the oldest antidote in the book.”  

“Which is…?”  

“True love’s kiss, brother-of-mine.”  

“I’ve had plenty of kisses in my time, Wanda.  If none of those broke the curse…”

“It’s because it was with the wrong person,” she snapped.  “I have waited plenty of time for you to find someone on your own, and as luck would have it, your time is running out.” 

“So… what?  You are going to trick some hapless soul into falling in love with me?  You are going to have to mix up a second batch of that for me, because I will not fall in love just because someone claims to love me.”  

“It is not  _ just _ a love potion, Pietro.”  

“Then what is it?  Wanda… my head hurts, my throat hurts, I am very tired and my skin is falling off…”  

“It is a soulmate seeker…” She leaned over and plucked a hair from his head and dropped it into the now bubbling cauldron.  “It will not make you fall in love with anyone except for the person you are meant to be with…”  She waved her hand over the top of it.  “And it will make that person… be decidedly more open to falling for you.”

“How decidedly?”  

“They aren’t going to jump your bones, if that  is what you mean… it will simply… allow you to see each other in a new light.”  

She reached for a ladle, scooping the potion into a glass.  

It looked a little like the kale smoothies he liked drinking in the mornings.  

Except it was hot and bubbly.  And smelled like old fish heads.  

“And this will break the curse?”  

“There is probably a more specific way to break it, but you are falling apart and we have no time.  Drink.”  

Holding his nose, he knocked back the entire glass of thick grossness.  And he only gagged twice.

* * *

 

He didn’t feel any different.  Despite going out and taking a walk like Wanda suggested.  He didn’t feel pulled towards anyone.  And he certainly wasn’t seeing anyone in a new light.  Lots of people were certainly noticing  _ him _ , however.  And he was fairly certain it wasn’t because they were falling in love with him either.  

It was likely due to the black horns that had quadrupled in size and refused to be hidden by hats any longer.   

His phone did buzz in his pocket around midday.  Darcy asking him to come in for another application of the salve.  Pietro had half a mind to just take his car and drive out of the city.  Go find a cave somewhere to finish his transformation.  

He wasn’t able to eat ANYTHING, it seemed.  Everything made his stomach rumble.  Made his chest burn.  

He knew Wanda tried her best, but it was likely too late for him.  

But for whatever reason, he made his way to Dr. Foster’s office.  His legs were itching.  And the scales were slowly creeping up his thighs now.  He was weak, he wanted the comfort that Darcy’s touch provided.

He was waved back immediately upon entrance into the waiting room.  A little girl shrieked at the sight of him and he wanted more than anything to make a run for it.  But something was pulling him in the opposite direction.  Pulling him towards the door.  

Darcy met him in the hallway and as they walked back towards the exam room, the most peculiar things started happening.  

Every light above them exploded as Darcy walked under it.  Fluorescent bulbs sparking while broken glass cascading down around them.  

Darcy ducked and he instinctively covered her, shielding her from certain carnage.  

And when she looked up at him afterwards, her eyes meeting his in gratitude, he realized exactly what had been pulling him here.  

“Oh…” he murmured, his hand reaching for her, stroking the side of her face before disappearing in her hair.  “It  is  _ you _ .”  

Her eyebrows went up, but the sparkle that had taken up residence in her pupils was unmistakable.  “Were you expecting someone else?” she asked.  

Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t seen it before.  His blinders were on, preoccupied as he was with his newfound… problems.  He shook his head.  “No…”  

* * *

 

Darcy had definitely noticed Pietro’s attitude shift since he’d come in that afternoon.  

How his eyes followed her when she walked around the room.  How they never left her lips when she spoke.  

There was something different about him as well… and she definitely didn’t mean the prominent black horns.  Or the way his eyes were… glowing now.  

It was something else.  Something weird.  Not bad weird.  Just…  _ weird _ .  

She rubbed the salve onto his calves and upwards, onto his thighs.  She blushed crimson the entire time, unsure of why something that was  _ decidedly _ a medical procedure was suddenly making her so hot under the collar.  

She rubbed some of it onto his forehead.  Around the angry skin surrounding his horns.  And for some reason… a reason she couldn’t place, and didn’t want to at any rate…when she was through rubbing the salve into his skin, she shifted slightly and pressed a light kiss to the middle of his forehead.  

He coughed like she’d burned him. 

And her hand came up to cover her mouth.  

Because right there.  In front of her.  Right then, at  _ that _ second.  Something.  One of the things she’d done, one of the remedies she’d administered, had worked.  

Bright  _ blinding _ light shot out from the tips of the sharp horns.  She closed her eyes against it, only opening them again when she couldn’t feel the heat any longer.  

He was looking better.  Much better, in fact. 

The horns were gone, leaving new, freshly healed skin in their wake.  His eyes weren’t glowing any longer.  They were their old, perfect, icy blue once more.  

And the scales.  The scales on his legs were gone.  Replaced once more with freshly healed skin.  

Her hand went immediately to his calf, running up and down it in wonder until he coughed once more.  

She jumped, yanking her hand back and apologizing profusely.  “Sorry.  Sorry, I just… I don’t know what I did?  Did I even… I can’t claim that was me…”  

“It was,” he insisted.  “It was you.”  

Shaking her head, she backed towards the door.  “It wasn’t.  I was just doing the same thing I always do and…”  

“And you kissed me.”  

“On the forehead!” she squawked.  “And I’m super sorry about that, it was entirely inappropriate.”

“Was it?” he asked, tilting his head and smiling.  “I do not feel like it was. And I think I would be the best judge of that.”  

She swallowed thickly, shaking her head.  “No, it was.  You’re a patient.  I’m a healer.  An  _ apprentice _ healer at that.  I am…  _ so sorry… _ dude, you have no idea.  I am so professional, usually.  I don’t know what happened, or why… but… now you’re... “  

“I am cured.  Thanks to you…”  He leaned forward, his hand reaching for her face and for whatever reason, she leaned in.  His lips brushed lightly over hers and she shivered at the contact, wanting both to run far away and to lean in for a deeper kiss. 

Instead, she did the only thing she could do.  She froze.  

He noticed.  Read her body language.  Leaned out of her space.  

“Can I call you?” he asked.  

“I think you can make an appointment with Jane for a check up in a week…” she said, her voice shaky. 

“I assumed as much…” he said, trailing off at the end.  “Can I call you…  _ socially _ ?”  

_ Say no.  You should definitely say no.   _

“Yes.  Yes, call me.  I’ll…”  She held out her hand, reaching for his.  He gave it and winced as she scribbled her personal number on the back of it.  “Call me.”  

“I will,” he promised.  “I can sense you are confused.  I can enlighten you.”  

“I am sure you can…” she said.  A little more vinegar than she’d been hoping for, but he didn’t seem to care.  

Maybe Pietro liked sour things. Especially now that he didn’t have the pits of hell erupting from his stomach.  

* * *

 

Her phone rang again.  Pietro been calling her a  _ lot _ lately. 

Grinning, she picked it up.  “Hello?”  

“It  _ was _ you,” he murmured, bringing up their usual argument right away.  

“It  _ wasn’t _ me, Pietro.  There are no such thing as soul mate seeking potions.  I’ve searched through all of my books… I think your sister was just pulling one over on you.  Trying to get your spirits up.”  

“ _ Princeza… _ it is old magic.  The likes that you and Dr. Foster don’t practice…”  

She couldn’t help but grin.  She adored the nickname.  Contrary to what she told him.  “I’m not your princess, Pietro.”  

“I never said you were mine, Darcy.  Just that you  _ are _ .”  

“Pietro…”  

“Darcy.”  

“I am not your soulmate.”  

“You cannot deny there is something between us.”  

Sighing, she acquiesced.  “Okay.  There is.  BUT, I don’t really think it’s appropriate for you and I to pursue a romantic relationship until I’m no longer treating you as a patient.”   

“Fair enough,” he said.  “But you have not been treating me as a patient since you cured me.”  

“Since you were cured,” Darcy corrected.  

“Jane has been my healer since I was cured.  I have not even seen a whisper of you at the office.” 

She tried to hide the smile even though he couldn't see her.  “There’s a good reason for that.”  

“The reason being, you would like to  _ take _ me on one of those exam tables.”  She exhaled, and he chuckled.  “I can hear you smiling.”

“You’re wrong.”  

“You are not smiling?”  

“On both counts…” she trailed off.  

“Oh really?”  

“Really.  If I were going to  _ take _ you, I’d at least wait until there was a more comfortable surface to lie on.”

“Darcy Lewis…” he murmured, his voice low and gravelly and feeling like hot molten sex dripping over her nether regions.  “When is my last appointment?”  

“Jane will probably call you sometime next week.”  

“Then, I suppose… I can see  _ you _ sometime next week?”  

“Yes,” she replied.  “Yes, you can.”  

**Author's Note:**

> I might be convinced to write a smutty epilogue... 
> 
> If I do, the rating will go up. 
> 
> Let me know what you think in the comments. ;) Comments are love, so maybe show me some? <3 
> 
> -xoxo, Dres
> 
> My [tumblr](http://dresupi.tumblr.com/).


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